Just because a man has a phobia against commitment and love in general does not make him a rogue. After all if a woman has these same issues does that mean she is a slut. Neither Sam Carson nor Ally Giordano easily fit into these categories. But both share some very deeply seated problems that have molded them into who they are now as single adults. Sam has devoted his life into becoming a self-made man and a force in his industry. He has all the trappings of a rich handsome bachelor including a new gorgeous woman on his arm each month. You see he does have some rules â€" one being that he is honest with each new flavor of the month â€" no elongated affairs for Sam. Ally has kept herself rather separated from life â€" devoting herself to her grandmother and her students. With a carefully chosen wardrobe she has successfully managed to avoid attracting a man who would expect an emotional tie. Her first impression of Sam was that he was absolutely gorgeous and then she quickly dismissed him as tall dark and dissolute. After all he had arrived via horse drawn carriage with Granny Donny who was for some reason pretending to be an English lady and introduced Sam as the Duke who has come to marry Princess Ally. Obviously something rather odd was happening here. Ally worried over whether this stranger was a con man out to pull something over her very confused grandmother. But confused or not grandma was able to see something of value in Sam and obviously trusted him. Teaming up with Sam and the carriage driver Ally sets out for Long Island. Ally is intent on bringing Granny home to hopefully recover her senses but Sam is intent on infusing fun and fantasy to entertain her grandmother who is becoming more and more delusional each day. Granny Donny raised Ally with a great deal of love and devotion and it was Ally’s turn now to take care. Only the adventure turns out to be a reawakening of feelings long buried for both Sam and Ally. The question isn’t whether they will fall in love. It’s whether they will take a chance at love.

Ingeniously intertwining captions from a Victorian romance novel Diana Holquist brings us a very witty and smart romantic modern tale. At the foreground is the premise that sometimes it is easier to step out of reality to get a taste of life. Fantasy has a magic quality with the promise of a happy ending. Real life is messy with no such guarantees. Holquist allows her characters to develop in a fantasy but brings them back to reality when it is time for them to get on with their lives.